Samos

Samos was a series of American military spacecraft launched in the
early 1960s to carry out global television surveillance from polar orbits.
Samos (originally known as Sentry) satellites were one component of the
first generation of United States Air Force orbital surveillance spacecraft,
the other two components being MIDAS and Discoverer.

The first satellites in the Samos series radioed back images from a frame
readout camera as they passed over North America; later ones carried recoverable
panoramic cameras. None of the satellites worked well, in contrast to the
successful CIA-run Corona project,
and Samos was quietly wound up without any significant achievements. Some
reporters have incorrectly said that "Samos" was an acronym of Satellite
and Missile Observation System. In fact, the name came from the link with
MIDAS – Samos being the island upon which King Midas lived.